Talks and Events

Binary Asteroids

Derek Richardson (University of Maryland)

Since the first discovery in 1993 of an asteroid with its
own moon, many dozens of companions have been found orbiting
near-Earth asteroids (NEAs), main-belt asteroids (MBAs), and
Kuiper-belt objects (KBOs). Surprisingly, it seems a
different mechanism is required to explain the origin of
satellites in each population. I will review current
observations and theoretical understanding of these
small-body binaries in our Solar System, with a special
emphasis on the formation of near-Earth asteroid binaries bt
tidal disruption. I will present results from numerical
simulations of over 100,000 different encounter scenarios
between an asteroid and the Earth, where it is assumed the
asteroid has little-to-no tensile strength (evidence
supporting this assumption will be presented briefly). We
find that our simulations produce binaries with properties
consistent with the observed population, taking into account
simple tidal evolution. I will also present our results in
the context of Asteroid 2004 MN4, which is predicted to pass
within 5 Earth radii of our planet on April 13, 2029.